Lesson 5

Introductory mini-lesson

Use the Game Rubric to provide feedback for the first iteration of the games.

Have students play the games they have designed in the IDEA teams.

Teacher Will: Impose these questions:

1. Does your game have an interesting theme? Sometimes it helps to think like a story. Does your game have a clear protagonist/ and antagonist? Is there a climactic point of the game? You don’t want a clear winner too early in the game. Otherwise, there is no point in continue to play.

2. Is your game easily playable? It shouldn’t take too long to learn how to play or to set-up.

3. Is your game balanced? Does each player have a basically equal chance of winning? Is your game challenging? If it’s too easy to win, it’s no fun.

4. Does your game reward players who use good strategies?

5. What sort of board would make the game rules more interesting? How does your environment/ theme interact with the players?

6. Should your game be cooperative or competitive? How do players affect one another and interact in your game?

7. What is the replay value of your game? If players played again, would the same scenario at the end of the game happen or would a different result occur?

8.

a. What parts of your game are based on chance? Random chances help to give you new and interesting outcomes when playing the game multiple times. Chance can be introduced through the use of dice/ spinners or cards.

b. What parts are based on choice? Many players prefer to be responsible for their own destiny by making choices. It’s not always fun to roll seventeen ones in a row on a die if all you need is a six.

Teacher Will: Display a checklist for what to look for throughout the game. Teacher will have a student come up to the class with their board game. Teacher will start playing it with a student and look for certain things that may not be working out with the game, and things that seem to be working out well with the game.

Teacher Will: Set students up in a way for them to realize what might not be working out in the game.

Students Will: Go off and play their games independently with their checklists looking for errors in their game play and what might need to be fixed.

Students Will: Come up to the class and mention parts of the game that ended up working and why/ mention parts of the game that didn’t work out well and why.

IDEA teams Will Edit Their Games and Create The Final Product

Introduce and review the game rubric with students, which will be used for final assessment of board games.